Month: June 2024

Financial survey: Women in US have just 1/3 of men’s retirement savings

Posted on by SeeUS

New York — Women in the U.S. have saved just a third of the amount that men have set aside for retirement, setting up a potential crisis among female retirees, according to a Prudential Financial survey released on Monday.  

On average, men had saved $157,000 for retirement, while women had only put aside $50,000 according to a survey of 905 U.S. adults between the ages of 55 and 75.  

“The financial futures of certain cohorts – such as women – are especially precarious,” Caroline Feeney, CEO of Prudential’s U.S. Businesses, said in a statement. “Women have a more challenging time saving for retirement,” she added, citing inflation, housing prices and changes in tax policies as the main barriers.  

Compared with the men surveyed, women were three times more likely to be focused on providing for their families and children than saving.  

Of the respondents, 46% of men said they were looking forward to retirement and had more plans, compared with 27% of women polled, the survey showed.
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Abortion rights interests plow money into US election races after Supreme Court reversal 

Posted on by SeeUS

New York — In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned women’s constitutional right to abortion, political contributions aimed at protecting abortion rights have far outstripped those to support anti-abortion causes.

In the 2023-2024 election cycle leading up to the Nov. 5 vote, pro-abortion rights interests have given $3.37 million to federal candidates, political parties, political action committees (PACs) and outside groups, compared to about $273,000 from anti-abortion interests, according to data from OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics.

The level of spending by pro-abortion rights interests is expected to offer a financial boost to the campaigns of some Democratic candidates including U.S. President Joe Biden, who has made protecting abortion rights a central part of his campaign message for reelection.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, in 2022 overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent that had legalized abortion nationwide, prompting 14 states to since enact measures banning or sharply restricting the procedure.

Groups like super PACs received 65.8% of contributions from those backing abortion rights in this election cycle, according to a Reuters analysis of OpenSecrets data.

Republican candidates and party committees got the bulk — about 75.9% — of contributions from anti-abortion rights interests.

PACs are typically set up to gather funds for candidates or political causes. They differ from outside money groups like super PACs, which can receive donations of unlimited size but cannot coordinate with campaigns directly.

So far this election cycle, PACs and super PACs allied with anti-abortion causes have raised $3.54 million, while abortion rights groups have raised $15.3 million, OpenSecrets data showed.

“The balance of spending between pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion rights groups always reflected the fact that there are more people who support abortion rights than who don’t,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at University of California, Davis.

Ziegler said she would not be surprised if political donations to support or oppose abortion rights rose for the 2024 election cycle compared to the 2020 election cycle.

2020 election cycle set records

The sums reported so far are dwarfed by those in the 2020 election cycle, in which abortion rights interests poured in $11.33 million in political contributions, with spending in the 2022 midterm election cycle coming in second with $10.67 million in contributions, OpenSecrets data showed.

Contributions from anti-abortion interests totaled $6.41 million in the 2020 cycle, and $2.7 million in the 2022 midterm cycle, during which the outcomes for ballot measures and competitive races seemed to suggest that voters were eager to protect abortion access at the state level.

With more than four months to go before the November election, it remains to be seen whether contributions this election cycle from abortion rights and anti-abortion causes will outstrip those in the 2020 cycle, when Biden beat the incumbent Donald Trump, a Republican.

The impact of political contributions on race outcomes is complicated, Ziegler said, as voters have various priorities at the ballot box.

“You can’t dismiss the importance of it, but it’s not like [more contributions] definitely means ballot initiatives are going to pass, Democrats are going to win, etc. It’s not that simple,” Ziegler said.

During Trump’s term as president, which started in 2017, he appointed a third of the current members of the Supreme Court and half of its conservative bloc, with all three of his picks coming from a list compiled by conservative legal activists.

Trump’s campaign earlier this month said he supports the rights of states to make decisions on abortion, supports exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother, and also supports protecting access to contraception and in vitro fertilization.

Two of the top contributors to candidates and groups are Planned Parenthood – which advocates for abortion rights — and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America — which lobbies against abortion rights.

So far this election cycle, Planned Parenthood has contributed $2.53 million, most of that to liberal groups, the Democratic party and its candidates.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has contributed about $92,600, almost all of it to Republican candidates and their party.
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Why Vietnam drought may spike global espresso prices

Posted on by SeeEA

Gia Lai Province — Vietnam’s coffee growers have been hit hard by the worst drought in nearly a decade this year, and that could mean a morning espresso is about to get more costly.  

The country is the world’s second biggest coffee producer and the top producer of robusta beans, the variety most commonly found in espressos and instant coffees.  

Domestic forecasts for next season’s harvest in Vietnam remain grim, with the nation’s Mercantile Exchange expecting a 10-16% fall in output due to the extreme heat.  

Doan Van Thang is a 39-year-old coffee farmer from the central Gia Lai province.  

“The drought dried up this whole area and the surrounding areas, and the water shortage is so severe that compared to last year, the harvest of coffee cherries is very low. We lost a lot of the output. It’s very small, very low this year.”  

With the price of coffee beans hitting a record high, farmers are enjoying the extra cash.  

They are also trying out new tactics to protect trees in the heatwave, like letting them grow for longer, allowing their roots to access deeper water reserves.  

Growers also soften the soil around plants, or cover it with leaves to improve absorption of rainwater and fertilizers.  

And a return of rainfall in recent weeks has improved the outlook, boosting confidence among farmers and officials.  

But it remains unclear whether the improved weather conditions and new farming practices will help boost output and drive down prices of robusta beans.

“We farmers should be happy when the price increases, but due to this drought, we are not very happy because the price increases but the output decreases. So in general, we’re happy and we’re sad at the same time because the climate changes erratically, and we can’t grasp those changes, so we are more sad than happy because the output has decreased much more compared to previous years.”  

The United States Department of Agriculture has been far less pessimistic than domestic projections – estimating Vietnam’s next harvest to be roughly steady.  

Whatever the impact on the harvest, coffee costs for drinkers around the world are likely to rise.  

While record wholesale prices have so far had a limited impact on consumer prices, there are signs that might be changing.  

Recent data from Eurostat showed coffee inflation up by 1.6% in the European Union in April and 2.5% in robusta-loving Italy.  

That’s still well below price rises from a year earlier, but it was higher than 1% in the March EU reading – a sign roasters may have started to pass their higher costs on to consumers.
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Apple’s App Store rules breach EU tech rules, EU regulators say

Posted on by SeeEU

AMSTERDAM — Apple’s App Store rules breach EU tech rules because they prevent app developers from steering consumers to alternative offers, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday, a charge that could result in a hefty fine for the iPhone maker.

The European Commission, which also acts as the European Union’s antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple following an investigation launched in March.

The charge against Apple is the first by the Commission under its landmark Digital Markets Act which seeks to rein in the power of Big Tech and ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals. It has until March next year to issue a final decision.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager cited issues with Apple’s new terms.

“As they stand, we think that these new terms do not allow app developers to communicate freely with their end users, and to conclude contracts with them,” she told a conference.

The Commission said under most of the business terms, Apple allows steering only through ‘link-outs’, meaning that app developers can include a link in their app that redirects the customer to a web page where the customer can conclude a contract.

It also criticised the fees charged by Apple for facilitating via the App Store the initial acquisition of a new customer by developers, saying they went beyond what was strictly necessary for such remuneration.

Apple said it had made a number of changes in the past several months to comply with the DMA after getting feedback from developers and the Commission.

“We are confident our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to Apple under the new business terms we created,” the company said in an email.

The EU executive said it was also opening an investigation into the iPhone maker over its new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores and whether these were necessary and proportionate.

DMA breaches can cost companies fines as much as 10% of their global annual turnover.
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Investigation continues into attack on office of Jewish Australian lawmaker

Posted on by SeeEA

SYDNEY — State and federal police in Australia are coordinating an investigation into an attack by a masked gang on the Melbourne office of a Jewish lawmaker.  

Windows were smashed, and fires were lit, and the slogan “Zionism is fascism” was painted in red over a picture of the face of Josh Burns, a member of Australia’s House of Representatives.

Investigators in the state of Victoria believe a group of at least five people broke windows, spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans and threw red paint into Burns’ office.

Police have confirmed the masked group also started two small fires. No one was hurt in Wednesday’s attack, but residents living in apartments above the lawmaker’s office in Melbourne had to be evacuated. No arrests have yet been made.

A chorus of politicians and community groups has condemned the vandalism.  

The Anti-Defamation Commission, a Jewish campaign group, said it was an “assault on our democracy and our sense of safety.”  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Australian radio that it was a distressing escalation of tensions that have been inflamed since the start of Israel’s war with Gaza in October. 

Burns said the assault on his office was “premeditated, reckless and dangerous” and that he had been targeted in the past by vandals defacing his election posters.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the abuse has been escalating.

“Since the war in the Middle East began on Oct. 7, you know, my staff have been at the receiving end of some pretty horrendous comments and abuse on the phones,” he said. “You know, I really do not want to see an escalation in political violence in Australia. We do not want to see a conflict on the other side of the world to be arriving here on our communities and our streets and in our neighborhoods. We want to remain the wonderful and peaceful multicultural Australia, where people are respected and free to live their lives in the Australian way.”    

Australia has said Israel has the right to defend itself after the Oct.. 7 attack by Hamas militants.

Australia advocates a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist within internationally recognized borders.   

Earlier this month, pro-Palestinian graffiti was daubed on the offices of senior government officials, including Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

Police in Victoria state have been monitoring suspected crimes incited by the conflict in Gaza. Around 200 incidents have been reported, and 60 people have been arrested for alleged criminal damage and offensive behavior. Official data has shown that of the incidents reportedly linked to religious affiliation, 88 related to antisemitic attacks and 16 involved Islamophobia.  

A Victorian police spokesperson has said previously that there was “no place in our community for hate crimes of any kind.”
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Firefighters find ’20 bodies’ at S Korea battery fire site: Yonhap

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL, South Korea — Around 20 bodies have been found at a South Korean lithium battery factory after a massive blaze on Monday, the Yonhap news agency said, with firefighters saying they were still searching the building.

Over 100 people were working in the factory when workers heard a series of explosions from the second floor, where lithium-ion batteries are inspected and packaged, firefighter Kim Jin-young told media.

Some 78 people were confirmed safe but many more were still missing, with Yonhap saying that “about 20 bodies (were) found” at the site, after rescue workers finally managed to get inside.

Kim told media that they had managed to put out the largest fire at the factory and were pulling bodies out of the charred building.

“A rescue team has gone inside and is carrying out search and rescue operations,” he said.

Images shared by Yonhap after the fire broke out showed huge plumes of billowing grey smoke rising into the sky above the factory, with orange flames inside the building. Dozens of fire engines were seen outside.

The vast factory had an estimated 35,000 battery cells on the second floor in storage, with more batteries stored in other areas.

Lithium batteries burn hot and fast, and are difficult to control with conventional fire extinguishing methods.

“Due to fears of additional explosions, it was difficult to enter,” Kim said.

“As it is a lithium battery manufacturer, we determined that spraying water will not extinguish the fire, so we are currently using dry sand,” he added.

The lithium battery plant is owned by Aricell, a South Korean primary battery manufacturer. It is located in Hwaseong city, just south of the capital Seoul.

Lithium batteries are used in everything from laptops to electric vehicles — but can be highly explosive, with airlines, for example, imposing strict regulations on checking devices containing them.

‘Mobilize all personnel’

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol issued emergency instructions to authorities, telling them to “mobilize all available personnel and equipment to focus on searching for and rescuing people,” his office said.

The president also warned authorities that they should “ensure the safety of firefighters considering the rapid spread of fire”.

Firefighting and rescue efforts were ongoing, and the cause of the fire was unknown.

Authorities in Hwaseong sent out a series of alerts to residents warning them to stay inside.

“There is a lot of smoke due to factory fires. Please pay attention to safety, such as refraining from going out,” one alert sent by text message said.

“Factory fire. Please detour to surrounding roads and nearby citizens please close windows,” another one read.

South Korea is a major producer of batteries, including those used in electric vehicles.

Its battery makers supply EV makers around the world, including Tesla.

South Korea is also one of the world’s largest producers of high-end semiconductors, and the government has invested heavily in key technologies including displays and batteries.
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Climate protesters run onto green, spray powder, delaying finish of PGA Tour event

Posted on by SeeUS

CROMWELL, Conn. — Six climate protesters stormed the 18th green while the leaders were lining up their putts for the final hole of regulation at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship on Sunday, spraying smoke and powder and delaying the finish for about five minutes.

The protesters waved smoke bombs that left white and red residue on the putting surface before Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia finished their rounds. Some wore white T-shirts with the words “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET” in black lettering on the front.

“I was scared for my life,” Bhatia said. “I didn’t even really know what was happening. … But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s, you know, that’s just weird stuff.”

The PGA Tour issued a statement thanking the Cromwell Police Department “for their quick and decisive action” and noting that there was no damage to the 18th green that affected either the end of regulation or the playoff hole.

Scheffler, who recently was arrested during a traffic stop at the PGA Championship, also praised the officers.

“From my point of view, they got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that,” said Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player, who beat Kim on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff for his sixth victory of the year.

“When something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s happening, so it can kind of rattle you a little bit,” Scheffler said. “That can be a stressful situation, and you would hate for the tournament to end on something weird happening because of a situation like that. I felt like Tom and I both tried to calm each other down so we could give it our best shot there on 18.”

Extinction Rebellion, an activist group with a history of disrupting events around the world, claimed responsibility for the protest. In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the group blamed climate change for an electrical storm that injured two people at a home near the course on Saturday.

“This was of course due to increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather conditions,” the statement said. “Golf, more than other events, is heavily reliant on good weather. Golf fans should therefore understand better than most the need for strong, immediate climate action.”

After the protesters were tackled by police and taken off, Scheffler left a potential 26-foot clincher from the fringe on the right edge of the cup, then tapped in for par. Kim, who trailed by one stroke heading into the final hole, sank a 10-foot birdie putt to tie Scheffler and force the playoff.
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New Zealand wins Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix

Posted on by SeeEA

NEW YORK — New Zealand came out victorious in the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix, the “world’s most exciting racing on water,” on New York’s Hudson River Sunday.

The two-day event was the penultimate race weekend of Mubadala SailGP before the competition’s fourth season concludes in San Francisco in July.

SailGP is an international sailing competition in which F50 foiling catamarans compete at 13 global destinations for a season of grand prix races. Some of this season’s previous destinations included Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sydney, Australia.

Each grand prix consists of separate “fleet races” before the three highest-scoring teams compete in a final race to decide the champion.

 

This SailGP season consists of 10 world-renowned teams: Australia, Canada, Emirates Great Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand, Rockwool Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

On Friday, Coutts announced that SailGP Season Five would feature a Brazil team, the competition’s first-ever team from South America.

“As a league, it’s an awesome place to be,” said Phil Robertson, Canada’s driver. “You got new teams and a lot of interest from a lot of countries so to have Brazil on the start line is very special and cool to expand to South America.”

Coming off its last race in Halifax, Canada, earlier this month, SailGP completed its 12th stop around the world this season in the waters between New York and New Jersey in which Canada placed second and Emirates Great Britain placed third.

The last time SailGP raced in New York was its debut season in 2019.

“Looking back on that inaugural event is like reflecting on a totally different stage in our journey,” Russell Coutts, CEO of SailGP, said in a press conference Friday. “We had just six national teams in a five-event calendar and now nearing the end of Season Four, we have 10 teams with the best of the best athletes in the sport, competing in a 13-event calendar, broadcast in 212 territories around the world.”

Approximately 9,000 ticketed attendees gathered on Governors Island and on the water Saturday and Sunday to watch the races.

Taylor Canfield, driver for the U.S. team, spoke on the significance of sailing in front of home fans in New York City and in San Francisco next month.

“It’s so cool to be here in the U.S. and these two iconic cities in New York and San Francisco,” Canfield said in Friday’s press conference. “It’s going to be amazing conditions and just perfect weather. This is the most iconic city in the world and it’s going to come alive so we’re excited about that.”

Looking forward to the final races in San Francisco next month, team Australia — reigning champion of SailGP seasons one, two and three — faces pressure to take home another win.

“It’s exciting to be in this position,” Tom Slingsby, driver for Australia, said. “For sure there’s a bit more adrenaline and there’s a bit more on the line knowing that every race really counts at the moment but I have full faith in my team. We’ve performed under pressure, we’ve won three one million dollar races.”

On July 14, one team will walk away with a $2 million prize and the title of SailGP’s season four champion.
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Russia’s North Korea defense deal may create friction with China, US top general says

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Espargos, Cape Verde — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mutual defense agreement with North Korea has the potential to create friction with China, which has long been the reclusive state’s main ally, the top U.S. military officer said Sunday.

“We’ve got someone else who’s kind of nudging in now, so that may drive a little bit more friction between (China) and Russia,” Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters during an overseas trip.

“So, it’ll be interesting to see how these three countries — how this plays out.”

Analysts said the pact, signed Wednesday, could undercut Beijing’s leverage over its two neighbors and any heightened instability could be negative for China’s global economic and strategic ambitions.

On Thursday, Putin said Russia might supply weapons to North Korea in what he suggested would be a mirror response to the Western arming of Ukraine.

Brown acknowledged U.S. concern about the deal.

But he also tempered those remarks by noting apparent limitations to the accord and expressing doubt Moscow would give North Korea “everything” it wanted.

U.S. officials have said they believe North Korea is keen to acquire fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies from Russia.

“The feedback I have on the agreement — it was a broad agreement that’s not overly binding, which gives you an indication (that) they want to work together but they don’t want to get their hands tied,” Brown said.

The treaty signed by Putin and Kim on Wednesday commits each side to provide immediate military assistance to the other in the event of armed aggression against either one of them.

Putin has said Moscow expected that its cooperation with North Korea would serve as a deterrent to the West, but that there was no need to use North Korean soldiers for the war in Ukraine.

The United States and Ukraine say North Korea has already provided Russia with significant quantities of artillery shells and ballistic missiles, which Moscow and Pyongyang deny.
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Landslide kills 8 in China’s central Hunan province after heavy rainfall

Posted on by SeeEA

Beijing — A landslide in a mountainous area of central China has left eight people dead, state media said Sunday, as parts of the country were placed on high alert for bad weather.

Heavy rain caused a deadly landslide in a village in Hunan province, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Four houses collapsed early Sunday and all eight missing people “have been found with no vital signs,” the channel said.

China has been experiencing extreme weather conditions and unusually high temperatures in recent months.

Climate change driven by human-emitted greenhouse gases makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense, and China is the world’s biggest emitter.

Meteorological authorities issued several red alerts — the highest in China’s four-tier warning system — for torrential rain Sunday, including in Hubei and Anhui provinces.

Downpours in southern and densely populated Guangdong province sparked inundations and landslides, with at least 38 people killed in China’s manufacturing heartland, state media said Friday.

While torrential rains have struck the south, northern China has sweated in temperatures well above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), including in Beijing, where the mercury exceeded 40C (104F) last week.
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Thousands of women march in France against far right

Posted on by SeeEU

Paris — Thousands of women took to the streets in cities around France on Sunday to protest Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, as polls indicated the party could win the upcoming parliamentary elections.

About 200 women’s rights groups and unions organized the marches in dozens of cities, including Paris, saying women’s rights come under attack when countries are governed by far-right parties. In Paris, more than 10,000 women demonstrated peacefully, organizers said.

In March, France enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution, a world first, but some RN lawmakers had opposed the legislation, raising concerns among some of the public about the party’s attitudes to women’s rights.

“During the debates around making abortion a constitutional right, we could well observe how the far-right deputies were very uncomfortable with the subject, they were calling for filling the cribs with French babies,” Shirley Wirden, officer in charge of women’s rights at the French Communist Party, said as she took part in Sunday’s protest in Paris.

The National Rally (RN) party and its allies are seen coming out on top in the first round of French parliamentary elections due to take place on June 30, with 35.5% of the vote, according to a poll published Sunday.

The Ipsos survey — conducted for Le Parisien newspaper and Radio France on June 19-20 — showed the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance in second place with 29.5% of the vote. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance was seen in third place, winning 19.5% of votes.

Macron called the snap parliamentary election after the National Rally came out top in European Union elections this month, with about 32% of the vote, trouncing Macron’s centrist alliance (15%). The RN secured 30% of the female vote, a 10-point rise versus the 2019 EU elections.
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7 killed, dozens missing after gunmen attack in northern Nigeria

Posted on by SeeAF

Maiduguri, Nigeria — At least seven people were killed and 100 kidnapped on Saturday night when gunmen attacked a rural community in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state, residents and police said Sunday, the latest attack against residents in the north of the country.

Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have frequently raided communities in the northwest, kidnapping residents, students and motorists for ransom.

Residents said gunmen on motorbikes arrived in Maidabino village in Danmusa local government area of Katsina, and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to flee.

Hassan Aliyu told Reuters by phone that the attack took residents by surprise and dozens of women and children were confirmed missing.

“They killed seven people, including burning two children,” Aliyu said. “They spent more than six hours destroying our properties.”

Auwalu Ismail, another resident, said the gunmen first blocked all roads leading to Maidabino before the attack.

“They burnt down our shops, vehicles, and took away our livestock. They also kidnapped my wife and more than 100 women and children,” he said.

Katsina state police spokesperson Abubakar Aliyu Sadiq confirmed the attack and the seven deaths but would not say whether anyone was missing. He said the police were investigating.

“The remaining men who did not flee are living in fear … and waiting to hear news about their abducted loved ones,” said Muhammad Sani, whose sister was abducted.
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Priest, 6 police officers killed by armed militants in Russia’s Dagestan

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Moscow — Armed militants attacked two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a traffic police post in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, killing a priest and six police officers, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Sunday.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that a Russian Orthodox Church priest and police officers were killed in the “terrorist” attacks.

Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said a group of armed men fired at a synagogue and a church in the city of Derbent, located on the Caspian Sea. The attackers fled and a search was underway for them, the statement from the ministry said. The ministry said two militants were “eliminated.”

Almost simultaneously, reports appeared about an attack on a traffic police post in the capital of the largely Muslim region, Makhachkala. According to RIA Novosti, six policemen were killed and 12 more were injured.

Shamil Khadulaev, deputy chairman of the public monitoring commission of Dagestan, cited by RIA Novosti, said a priest in Derbent and a church security guard in Makhachkala were killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but some officials in Dagestan blamed Ukraine and NATO.

“There is no doubt that these terrorist attacks are in one way or another connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries,” Dagestan lawmaker Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials did not comment immediately on the attacks.

“What happened looks like a vile provocation and an attempt to cause discord between confessions,” President Ramzan Kadyrov of neighboring Chechnya said.
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Chicago’s iconic ‘Bean’ sculpture reopens to tourists after nearly a year of construction

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Chicago — One of Chicago’s most popular tourist attractions known as “The Bean” reopened to the public Sunday after nearly a year of renovations and construction.

Construction started in August last year, and fencing around the iconic sculpture limited closeup access to visitors. The work on the plaza surrounding the sculpture included new stairs, accessible ramps and a waterproofing system, according to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The bean-shaped sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor is formally known as “Cloud Gate” and weighs 110 tons (99.8 metric tons).

It’s a busy tourist hub near Michigan Avenue, particularly for selfies with its reflective surface inspired by liquid mercury. Views of skyscrapers and crowds are reflected on the Millennium Park sculpture.

“Visitors can once again have full access to Chicago’s iconic Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor,” city officials said in a Sunday statement. “Come back and get your #selfie!”
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Ceremony marks start of rebuilding for Pittsburgh synagogue targeted in antisemitic mass shooting

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1 person found dead, 2 missing in Switzerland floods  

Posted on by SeeEU

VIENNA — Rescuers in Switzerland have found the body of one of three people who had gone missing Saturday after massive thunderstorms and rainfall in the southeast of the country caused a rockslide, Swiss authorities say. The other two are still missing. 

One woman was pulled out alive from the rubble earlier Saturday morning. 

“Today is a sad day,” said Ignazio Cassis, member of the Swiss Federal Council, who addressed reporters Sunday after traveling to the region to show solidarity with the victims on behalf of the Swiss Federal Government. 

A team of 200 rescuers has been searching for the missing people since Saturday with excavators, specially trained search dogs, drones and army helicopters. But the likelihood of finding them alive is low, William Kloter from the Swiss police, who is heading the rescue operations, told reporters Sunday. 

Search operations had to be halted during the night due to heavy rain. 

The rockslide hit a group of three houses in the municipality of Lostallo in the Alpine valley of Misox in Graubünden. 

Swiss authorities also said that a segment of the Swiss motorway A13 leading toward Italy had been completely submerged and destroyed by flooding. The major transit route between the key San Bernardino Pass and Roveredo in Graubünden will likely remain closed for several months. 
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UK election betting scandal widens as a fourth Conservative Party official reportedly investigated 

Posted on by SeeEU

London — The chief data officer of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported Sunday, following growing allegations that the governing party’s members used inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election before it was announced.

The Sunday Times and others reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the U.K.’s Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the election.

The Times alleged that dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.

The reports came after revelations in recent days that two Conservative election candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, are under investigation by the gambling watchdog. Saunders’ husband Tony Lee, the Conservative director of campaigning, has also taken a leave of absence following allegations he was also investigated over alleged betting.

Police said one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘s police bodyguards was arrested Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest came after the gambling regulator confirmed it was investigating “the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election.”

The growing scandal, just two weeks ahead of the national election, has dealt a fresh blow to Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is widely expected to lose to the opposition Labour Party after 14 years in power.

Sunak said this week that he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations and said that anyone found to have broken the law should be expelled from his party.

Sunak announced on May 22 that parliamentary elections would be held on July 4. The date had been a closely guarded secret and many were taken by surprise because a vote had been expected in the fall.

Saunders, a candidate standing in Bristol, southwest England, has said she will cooperate fully with the investigation.

Williams was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary as well as a member of Parliament running for reelection on July 4. He has acknowledged that he was being investigated by the Gambling Commission for placing a $128 bet on a July election before the date had been announced.

Senior Conservative minister Michael Gove condemned the alleged betting and likened it to ” Partygate,” the ethics scandal that contributed to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ouster in 2022.

That controversy saw public trust in the Conservatives plummet after revelations that politicians and officials held lockdown-flouting parties and gatherings in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us,” Gove told the Sunday Times. “That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “people are sick and tired of this sleaze” and that Sunak must intervene and order an official inquiry.

The Conservative Party said it cannot comment because investigations are ongoing.
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Kenya’s Ruto ready for ‘conversation’ with protesters

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi — Kenya’s President William Ruto said Sunday that he was ready for “a conversation” with thousands of “peaceful” young protesters who held nationwide demonstrations this week to oppose proposed tax increases.

Organized on social media and led largely by Gen-Z Kenyans who have livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests have caught Ruto’s government off-guard, as discontent mounts over his economic policies.

“I am very proud of our young people… they have stepped forward peaceful and I want to tell them we are going to engage them,” Ruto said in his first public comments on the protests.

“We are going to have a conversation so that together we can build a greater nation,” Ruto said during a church service in the Rift Valley town of Nyahururu.

His characterization of the protests as “peaceful” came after rights campaigners reported two deaths following Thursday’s demonstrations in Nairobi.

There was no immediate response from the protesters, who have called for a national strike on June 25.

The demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but officers fired tear gas and water cannon throughout the day to disperse protesters near parliament.

According to a Kenya Human Rights Commission official, 21-year-old Evans Kiratu was “hit by a tear gas canister” during the protests and died in hospital.

On Friday, a police watchdog said it was investigating allegations that a 29-year-old man was shot by officers in Nairobi after the demonstrations.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said it had “documented the death… allegedly as a result of police shooting” on Thursday.

Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said that at least 200 people were injured in the protests in Nairobi, as thousands of people take to the streets across the country.

Cash-strapped government

Ruto’s administration has defended the proposed levies as necessary for filling its coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.

Following smaller-scale demonstrations on Tuesday, the cash-strapped government agreed to roll back several tax hikes laid out in a new bill.

But Ruto’s administration still intends to increase some taxes, defending the proposed levies as necessary to raise money.

Kenya has a debt mountain, and servicing costs have ballooned due to a fall in the value of the local currency over the last two years, leaving Ruto with few options.

The tax hikes will pile further pressure on Kenyans, with many already struggling as the cost of living surges and well-paid jobs remain out of reach for young people.

“Tuesday 25th June: #OccupyParliament and Total Shutdown Kenya. A national strike,” read a poster shared widely online, adding that “Gen Z are granting all hard working Kenyans a day off. Parents keep your children at home in solidarity.”

After the government agreed to scrap levies on bread purchases, car ownership as well as financial and mobile services, the treasury warned of a 200-billion-shilling ($1.5-billion) shortfall.

The government has now targeted an increase in fuel prices and export taxes to fill the void left by the changes, a move critics say will make life more expensive in a country already saddled with high inflation.

Kenya is one of the most dynamic economies in East Africa but a third of its 51.5 million people live in poverty.
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Thailand sets extradition hearing for Montagnard activist wanted by Hanoi 

Posted on by SeeEA

Bangkok — A Thai court has set a mid-July extradition hearing date for Vietnamese dissident Y Quynh Bdap, who was arrested in Thailand earlier this month at Vietnam’s request, Thai officials have told VOA.

Rights advocates are meanwhile urging Thailand not to force Bdap back home, fearing for his safety, and say his arrest continues the “swap mart” they claim the region’s governments are running by returning each other’s wanted dissidents.

Bdap had been living in Thailand since 2018 to evade Vietnamese authorities for fear of arrest over this human rights work. Thai police arrested him in Bangkok on June 11 for alleged immigration offenses acting on a call from Vietnam for his return.

A Thai court issued the arrest warrant “upon the request for extradition made by the Vietnamese authority, from the ruling of the Vietnamese court that Mr. Bdap was guilty on the charge of terrorism,” Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told VOA.

Maj. Gen. Khemmarin Hassiri, an adviser to Thailand’s deputy police chief, said the criminal courts have scheduled an extradition hearing for Bdap on July 15.

Vietnam wants Bdap for his alleged role fomenting a riot last year that left nine people, including four local police officers, dead, according to state media. A Vietnamese court convicted him on related terrorism charges in absentia in January and sentenced him to 10 years in jail.

The Vietnamese government has also labeled his group, Montagnards Stand for Justice, which advocates for the rights of the mostly Christian ethnic minorities of the country’s central highlands, a terrorist organization.

Bdap denied the allegations against him and the group in a brief video recorded in Thailand days before his arrest and later posted online by United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor. In the clip, he says he fears his imminent arrest and urges the U.N., rights groups and foreign governments to protect him.

Clarion calls

Since his arrest, rights groups have issued statements urging Thailand not to send Bdap back to Vietnam.

Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the arrest flies in the face of Thailand’s legal obligations to protect refugees.

“The situation has now gone from bad to worse as he is facing imminent extradition to face prosecution in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government has long persecuted Christian Montagnards belonging to independent house churches, supporters of nonviolent demands for independence or autonomy, and people objecting to the transfer of land and forests traditionally used by highlanders to Vietnamese businesses and settlers,” Sunai told VOA.

“Human Rights Watch has no information on Y Quynh Bdap’s possible involvement in the riots but is gravely concerned about his safety and his receiving a fair trial in Vietnam,” he added.

Y Phic Hdok, who cofounded Montagnards Stand for Justice with Bdap and is now in the United States after fleeing Vietnam eight years ago, said his friend would be in grave danger if handed over to Vietnam.

“I urge the Thai government to respect international human rights standards and reject Vietnam’s unlawful extradition request,” he told VOA. “It will be a risk for his life if he will be deported.”

Christopher MacLeod, a Canadian lawyer working to save Bdap from being extradited, echoed the concern.

“I worry for his life and safety,” he told VOA, including his “mistreatment and abuse in prison, and [about] the message it would send, the chilling effect it would have on anyone else who wants to speak to religious freedom and tolerance.”

MacLeod said Bdap’s arrest came a day after he had a meeting at the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok about his application to resettle in Canada as a political refugee. The embassy did not reply to VOA’s request to confirm the meeting or to comment on the case.

Past as prologue

Thailand’s handling of past refugee cases also has advocates concerned.

While Thailand has at times allowed foreign dissidents wanted by their home countries to resettle elsewhere, even after arresting them, it also has a track record of forcing them back to repressive regimes, including China and Cambodia. Activists wanted by Hanoi have also gone missing while hiding in Thailand in recent years only to show up days or weeks later in custody back in Vietnam, raising concerns about possible state-sponsored kidnapping.

Thai dissidents taking refuge from their own government in neighboring countries have also gone missing or turned up dead under mysterious circumstances in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

“Especially in the region, there has been — I don’t know if it’s formal, but certainly the informal — trading and return of political dissidents from one country to the other,” MacLeod said.

“I worry that that is playing itself out in this instance,” he added, referring to Bdap.

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch recounts 25 confirmed or suspected cases of such transnational repression of activists and dissidents across the region between 2014 and 2023, a nine-year stretch of military-run or -aligned governments in Thailand.

Sunai said the civilian administration that took office following national elections last year risks following in their footsteps.

“The current administration of PM [Prime Minister] Srettha Thavisin carries on the legacy of military rule and maintains the pattern of transnational repression, in which Thai authorities helped neighboring governments take unlawful actions against refugees and dissidents seeking shelter in Thailand,” he said.

Treaty talks

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk raised the issue during his latest global update to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva last week.

He spoke of an “emerging pattern” of transnational repression in Southeast Asia and of signs that the trend was going global.

Thailand and Vietnam are also in the midst of negotiations on a formal extradition treaty. Khemmarin said those talks would likely continue on a future visit to Vietnam by senior Thai officials, possibly next month.

MacLeod said a treaty could make the problem of transnational repression worse by making it easier and faster for the two countries to exchange dissidents, leaving other governments, rights groups or the U.N. less time and chance to intervene.

Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is leading the treaty talks, did not reply to VOA’s questions about a possible deal.

The Vietnamese Embassy did not reply to VOA either.

As for Bdap’s case, Thai government spokesperson Chai Watcharong told VOA that Thailand would “take into consideration all relevant factors and concerns including the safety of the alleged offender. The court shall decide whether the alleged offences requested for extradition are considered extraditable.”

“It is better at this stage not to prejudge the court’s decision,” he added.
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Illinois may soon return land US stole from Prairie Band Potawatomi chief 175 years ago

Posted on by SeeUS

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Some 175 years after the U.S. government stole land from the chief of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation while he was away visiting relatives, Illinois may soon return it to the tribe.

Nothing ever changed the 1829 treaty that Chief Shab-eh-nay signed with the U.S. government to preserve for him a reservation in northern Illinois: not subsequent accords nor the 1830 Indian Removal Act, which forced all indigenous people to move west of the Mississippi.

But around 1848, the U.S. sold the land to white settlers while Shab-eh-nay and other members of his tribe were visiting family in Kansas. 

To right the wrong, Illinois would transfer a 1,500-acre (607-hectare) state park west of Chicago, which was named after Shab-eh-nay, to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The state would continue providing maintenance while the tribe says it wants to keep the park as it is. 

“The average citizen shouldn’t know that title has been transferred to the nation so they can still enjoy everything that’s going on within the park and take advantage of all of that area out there,” said Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick, chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation based in Mayetta, Kansas.

It’s not entirely the same soil that the U.S. took from Chief Shab-eh-nay. The boundaries of his original 1,280-acre (518-hectare) reservation now encompass hundreds of acres of privately owned land, a golf course and county forest preserve. The legislation awaiting Illinois House approval would transfer the Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area.

No one disputes Shab-eh-nay’s reservation was illegally sold and still belongs to the Potawatomi. An exactingly researched July 2000 memo from the Interior Department found the claim valid and shot down rebuttals from Illinois officials at the time, positing, “It appears that Illinois officials are struggling with the concept of having an Indian reservation in the state.”

But nothing has changed a quarter-century later.

Democratic state Rep. Will Guzzardi, who sponsored the legislation to transfer the state park, said it is a significant concession on the part of the Potawatomi. With various private and public concerns now owning more than half of the original reservation land, reclaiming it for the Potawatomi would set up a serpentine legal wrangle.

“Instead, the tribe has offered a compromise, which is to say, ‘We’ll take the entirety of the park and give up our claim to the private land and the county land and the rest of that land,’” Guzzardi said. “That’s a better deal for all parties involved.”

The proposed transfer of the park, which is 68 miles (109 kilometers) west of Chicago, won Senate approval in the final days of the spring legislative session. But a snag in the House prevented its passage. Proponents will seek endorsement of the measure when the Legislature returns in November for its fall meeting.

The Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829 guaranteed the original land to Chief Shab-eh-ney. The tribe signed 20 other treaties during the next 38 years, according to Rupnick.

“Yet Congress still kept those two sections of land for Chief Shab-eh-nay and his descendants forever,” said Rupnick, a fourth great-grandson of Shab-eh-nay. “At any one of those times the Congress could have removed the status of that land. They never did.”

Key to the proposal is a management agreement between the tribe and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Rupnick said the tribe needs the state’s help to maintain the park.

Many residents who live next to the park oppose the plan, fearing construction of a casino or even a hotel would draw more tourists and lead to a larger, more congested community.

“Myself and my family have put a lot of money and given up a lot to be where we are in a small community and enjoy the park the way that it is,” resident Becky Oest told a House committee in May, asking that the proposal be amended to prohibit construction that would “affect our community. It’s a small town. We don’t want it to grow bigger.”

Rupnick said a casino doesn’t make sense because state-sanctioned gambling boats already dot the state. He did not rule out a hotel, noting the park draws 500,000 visitors a year and the closest lodging is in DeKalb, 18 miles (29 kilometers) northeast of Shabbona. The park has 150 campsites.

In 2006, the tribe purchased 128 acres (52 hectares) in a corner of the original reservation and leases the land for farming. The U.S. government in April certified that as the first reservation in Illinois.

Guzzardi hopes the Potawatomi don’t have to wait much longer to see that grow exponentially with the park transfer.

“It keeps this beautiful public asset available to everyone,” Guzzardi said. “It resolves disputed title for landholders in the area and most importantly, it fixes a promise that we broke.” 
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Abortion access has won when it’s been on the ballot, but not option for half the states

Posted on by SeeUS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tucked inside the West Virginia Statehouse is a copy of a petition to lawmakers with a simple request: Let the voters decide whether to reinstate legal access to abortion.

The request has been ignored by the Republican lawmakers who have supermajority control in the Legislature and banned abortions in the state in 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to the procedure.

The petition, with more than 2,500 signatures, is essentially meaningless given the current makeup of the Legislature. But it illustrates the frustratingly limited options millions of Americans face in trying to re-establish abortion rights as the country marks the two-year anniversary since the Supreme Court’s ruling.

West Virginia is among the 25 states that do not allow citizen initiatives or constitutional amendments on a statewide ballot, an avenue of direct democracy that has allowed voters to circumvent their legislatures and preserve abortion and other reproductive rights in a number of states over the past two years.

Republicans there have repeatedly dismissed the idea of placing an abortion-rights measure before voters, which in West Virginia is a step only lawmakers can take.

“It makes you wonder what they’re so afraid of,” said Democratic Del. Kayla Young, one of only 16 women in the West Virginia Legislature. “If they feel so strongly that this is what people believe, prove it.”

The court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade was praised by abortion opponents as a decision that returned the question to the states. Former President Donald Trump, who named three of the justices who overturned Roe, has repeatedly claimed “the people” are now the ones deciding abortion access.

“The people are deciding,” he said during a recent interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “And in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

But that’s not true everywhere. In states allowing the citizen initiative and where abortion access has been on the ballot, voters have resoundingly affirmed the right to abortion.

Voters in seven states, including conservative ones such as Kentucky, Montana and Ohio, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to curtail them in statewide votes over the past two years. Reproductive rights supporters are trying to put citizen initiatives on the ballot in several states this year.

But voters don’t have a direct say in about half the states.

This is particularly true for those living in the South. Republican-controlled legislatures, many of which have been heavily gerrymandered to give the GOP disproportionate power, have enacted some of the strictest abortion bans since the Supreme Court ruling while shunning efforts to expand direct democracy.

States began adopting the initiative process during the Progressive Era more than a century ago, giving citizens a way to make or repeal laws through a direct vote of the people. Between 1898 and 1918, nearly 20 states approved the citizen initiative. Since then, just five states have done so.

“It was a different time,” said John Matsusaka, professor of business and law at the University of Southern California. “There was a political movement across the whole country when people were trying to do what they saw as good government.”

Some lawmakers argue citizen initiatives bypass important checks and balances offered through the legislative process. In Tennessee, where Republicans have gerrymandered legislative districts to give them a supermajority in the statehouse, House Majority Leader William Lamberth likened ballot measures to polls rather than what he described as the legislature’s strict review of complicated policy-making.

“We evaluate bills every single year,” he said.

As in West Virginia, abortion-rights supporters or Democratic lawmakers have asked Republican-controlled legislatures in a handful of states to take the abortion question straight to voters, a tactic that hasn’t succeeded anywhere the GOP has a majority.

“This means you’re going to say, ‘Hey Legislature, would you like to give up some of your power? Would you like to give up your monopoly on policymaking?’” said Thad Kousser, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. “You need a political momentum and then have the process cooperate.”

In South Carolina, which bans nearly all abortions, a Democratic-backed resolution to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot never got a hearing this year. Attempts to attach the proposal to other pieces of legislation were quickly shut down by Republicans.

“If you believe you are doing the right thing for all the people of South Carolina — men and women and babies — you should have no problem putting this to the people,” said Democratic Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, alleging that Republicans fear they would lose if the issue went directly to voters.

In Georgia, Democratic Rep. Shea Roberts said she frequently fields questions from her constituents asking how they can get involved in a citizen-led ballot measure. The interest exploded after voters in Kansas rejected an anti-abortion measure from the Legislature in 2022 and was rekindled last fall after Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed an amendment codifying abortion rights in the state’s constitution.

Yet when she has brought legislation to create a citizen initiative process in Georgia, the efforts have been ignored inside the Republican-controlled Legislature.

“Voters are constantly asking us why we can’t do this, and we’re constantly explaining that it’s not possible under our current constitution,” Roberts said. “If almost half of states have this process, why shouldn’t Georgians?”

The contrast is on stark display in two presidential swing states. Michigan voters used a citizen initiative to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution in 2022. Voters in neighboring Wisconsin don’t have that ability.

Instead, Wisconsin Democrats, with a new liberal majority on the state Supreme Court, are working to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps that are among the most gerrymandered in the country in the hope of eventually flipping the Legislature.

Analiese Eicher, director of communications at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, said a citizen-led ballot measure process would have been especially valuable for her cause.

“We should have legislators who represent their constituents,” she said. “And if they don’t, there should be another option.”

In West Virginia, Steve Williams acknowledges the petition he spearheaded didn’t change minds inside the Legislature.

But the Democratic mayor of Huntington, who is a longshot candidate for governor, said he thinks state Republicans have underestimated how strongly voters believe in restoring some kind of abortion access.  

Republican leadership has pointed to a 2018 vote in which just under 52% of voters supported a constitutional amendment saying there is no right to abortion access in the state. But Williams said the vote also had to do with state funding of abortion, which someone could oppose without wanting access completely eliminated.

The vote was close, voter participation was low and it came before the Supreme Court’s decision that eliminated a nationwide right to abortion. Williams said West Virginia women weren’t facing the reality of a near-total ban.

“Let’s face it: Life in 2024 is a heck of a lot different for women than it was in 2018,” he said. 
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Niger planned on China-backed oil pipeline — then troubles began

Posted on by SeeEA

ABUJA, Nigeria — A China-backed pipeline that would make Niger an oil-exporting country is being threatened by an internal security crisis and a diplomatic dispute with neighboring Benin, both a result of last year’s coup that toppled the West African nation’s democratic government.

The 1,930-kilometer pipeline runs from Niger’s Chinese-built Agadem oil field to the port of Cotonou in Benin. It was designed to help the oil-rich but landlocked Niger achieve an almost fivefold increase in oil production through a $400 million deal signed in April with China’s state-run national petroleum company.

But it has been stalled by several challenges, including the diplomatic disagreement with Benin that led to the pipeline’s closure last week. There also has been an attack this week by the local Patriotic Liberation Front rebel group, which claimed to have disabled a part of the pipeline and is threatening more attacks if the $400 million deal with China isn’t canceled.

The group, led by Salah Mahmoud, a former rebel leader, took up arms after Niger’s junta came to power, posing further security threats to the country, which is already struggling with a deadly security crisis.

Analysts say the crises could further hurt Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries which funds most of its budget with now-withheld external support in the aftermath of the coup.

Niger currently has a local refining capacity of only 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) for local demands while the pipeline is to export up to 90,000 barrels daily — a feat officials and analysts have said would help the country shore up its revenue and emerge from the coup sanctions that had isolated it from regional neighbors and hurt its economy and people.

“It is a completely messy situation and the only way for a resolution is if both administrations directly engage and resolve issues,” said Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused security consulting company Signal Risk.

One major concern is how the stalled pipeline operation might impact Niger’s overall economic growth. The World Bank had projected that the West African nation’s economy would rebound and grow the fastest in Africa this year at a rate of 6.9%, with oil exports as a key boost.

The diplomatic tensions with Benin date back to July when Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, was deposed in a coup, resulting in West African neighbors closing their borders with Niger, and in the formation of the so-called local liberation group now threatening more attacks on the oil project.

Benin, alongside other neighbors, has reopened its border with Niger, but Nigerien officials have refused to open theirs, accusing Benin of hosting French troops that pose a threat to the country after Niger severed military ties with France. That has led Benin’s president, Patrice Talon, to make the oil exportation through its port conditional on the reopening of the border.

Both countries are losing out economically, with Benin also being deprived of millions of dollars in transit fees. Observers say the impasse is worsening regional tensions since the coup, which came after a string of other military takeovers. It has pitched Niger against the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, which usually mediates on such issues.

With Niger tilting towards Russia in its diplomatic shift and Benin aligned with France and the West African bloc, China has tried to step in and resolve the impasse and benefit from its investment in the project.

But even Beijing’s efforts, which resulted in the first lifting of oil from the Agadem field in May, collapsed as the diplomatic spat escalated further.

Benin this week convicted and imprisoned three of five Nigerien oil workers it recently arrested at the Beninise port after they crossed from the border and were accused of “use of falsified computer data.” Their arrests prompted Niger to shut the pipeline last week, with a senior government official alleging that their oil is being “stolen by other people.”

A big concern for Niger’s military government at this stage is “whether they have the requisite fiscal capacity to keep paying for public services” following the coup, which has made it unable to meet some of its financial obligations such as debt repayment and infrastructural funding, Cummings said.

The junta in Niger “definitely have to be more cautious in handling the financial position of the country” amid the ongoing crises, he said.
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Philippines says it won’t back down, but won’t start war, after clash with China

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MANILA, Philippines — The president of the Philippines said Sunday his country would not yield to “any foreign power” after Chinese forces injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged at least two military boats with machetes, axes and hammers in a clash in the disputed South China Sea but added the Philippines would never instigate a war.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew with his top generals and defense chief to the western island province of Palawan, which faces the South China Sea, to meet and award medals to navy personnel who came under assault by the Chinese coast guard Monday as they attempted to deliver food and other supplies to an outpost on the hotly contested Second Thomas Shoal.

Videos and pictures of the chaotic faceoff made public by the military showed Chinese coast guard personnel hitting a Philippine navy boat with a wooden bar and seizing a bag while blaring sirens and using blinding strobe lights. The Chinese government said that its coast guard had to take action after Filipino forces defied warnings not to stray into what China calls its own offshore territory, a claim long rejected by rival claimant governments and international arbitrators.

The violent confrontation sparked condemnation and alarm from the U.S., the European Union, Japan, Australia and other Western and Asian nations, while China and the Philippines blamed each other for instigating it. Marcos’s key advisers said Friday that his administration has no plan to invoke the country’s mutual defense treaty with the United States.

“We are not in the business to instigate wars,” Marcos told Filipino forces. “In defending the nation, we stay true to our Filipino nature that we would like to settle all these issues peacefully.”

In Monday’s faceoff at the shoal, Marcos said “we made a conscious and deliberate choice to remain in the path of peace.” The Filipino navy special operations group personnel who came under attack used only their bare hands to push back the Chinese, some of whom pointed knives at them, said Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.

“We stand firm. Our calm and peaceful disposition should not be mistaken for acquiescence,” Marcos said. “History itself can tell that we have never, never in the history of the Philippines yielded to any foreign power.”

Chinese officials in Manila and Beijing did not immediately comment on Marcos’ remarks.

Marcos praised about 80 officers and personnel involved in Monday’s supply mission, including one who lost his right thumb during the high seas confrontation, saying they “exercised the greatest restraint amidst intense provocation.” He issued an appeal: “Continue to fulfill your duty of defending the nation with integrity and respect as you have done so far.”

The territorial disputes, which involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have long been seen as a flashpoint that could pit the U.S. against China if high seas confrontations escalate into armed conflict. Washington has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces are attacked, including in the South China Sea.

Indonesian forces have also opened fire on Chinese fishing boats in past confrontations in waters off the Natuna islands on the fringes of the South China Sea.
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